Zest Bar and Grill

Very pleasant lunch with my sister. Drove from Lakeland to check the restaurant out. It was easy to find with parking available and although they have outdoor seating, we chose indoor. Katie showed us to our table and greeted us with menus and took our drink order. They offer several lunch specials in addition to the menu. I chose the Philly Steak Sandwich on special and Sid got the Cuban. Each were large portions and served with warm kettle chips. The sandwiches were outstanding and so were the chips. I definitely recommend them. Everything was spot on! 5 stars!

Absolutely loved the place-it's clean, well kept, the staff super friendly and the food rocks out with your $&@; out. Bartow-do yourself a favor and keep this place open.

We decided to try a new place while working for a few weeks in nearby Winterhaven, and this was worth the short drive to try something new. Zest has a good menu that satisfied the 2 coworkers and I. I enjoyed the empanadas as an appetizer and had a cuban sandwich which was pretty good as well. All and all a good visit in a nice setting with easy onstreet parking nearby. Staff were friendly and efficient. I would come back.

Everything this place has to offer is on point. The appetizers and drinks are amazing! Barry at the bar makes you feel right home and definitely entertaining! The service was above my expectations and we will definitely be back. This place also has a fabulous event room for any type of gathering.

I visited Zest Bar and Grill with co-workers for lunch recently and had a nice experience. I ordered the Shrimp and Grits. Creamy savory grits were topped with tender shrimp, melted cheese, and flavorful Cajun seasoning. Overall, Zest is a nice addition to the Bartow food scene.

My lunch experience was "ok". I found the indoors freezing so chose to move outdoors, where I was the only customer and "forgotten". Nice area though. I had ordered while inside so my food came out reasonably quickly but that was the last I saw anyone. No drink refills, no "do you have everything you need", etc. I'd asked for a medium rare cook on my burger but it came well done. It was thick and ingredients were fresh, far too big for a normal mouth. Fries were nothing to write home about. It seems to be trying to meet both bar & restaurant needs, to me it comes across without a solid identity. I will go back some day and hope to up those stars.

The staff is top notch! Food is always fresh, hand cut steak, never frozen seafood, cocktails out of this world with fresh ingredients and juices, house made syrups. Local spirits and beers along with names brands! All situated in a historic building!

This place is pretty good. It's a new spot in my little town of Bartow. I decide to eat outside their patio. It was a beautiful evening but what I didn't account for were the mosquitoes. The owner really need to light up some citronella for the patio. My server was extremely helpful she made tons of recommendations. Honesty, when I reviewing the menu nothing really spoke to me expect the margarita & the bread pudding. In the end I ordered the beef empanadas, a chicken sandwich all based on the server recommendation. I knew I didn't have room for dessert. The sandwich was served with kettle chip. Actually all of their meal is served with kettle chip. That's ok but variation of side would've been nice to substitute. Fries, rice, or a side salad. My meal ended up costing me around $46.00 and it was just me. I would go back but only for drink, the empanadas, & try their citrus bread pudding. Oh, I can't wait. This time around I will sit inside maybe at the bar. I didn't get a chance to soak in their decor. Next time.

After doing takeout from here a few times, we finally found ourselves with the time to dine in while in town. It was around 4 on Saturday (when most of downtown bartow begins to shut down for the weekend) and there was only one other party seated at a booth towards the back and a man sitting at the bar.I enjoy the direction they went with in terms of decor; the place is comfortable and inviting with that "farmhouse chic vibe" that much of the new businesses in downtown bartow have. We ordered a variety of dishes, I went with a chicken sandwich that came with the house made chips. The sandwich had a lot of flavor and was not at all dry. I also really like the cilantro mayo they make. We had a round of Arnold palmers, which were also delicious and they brought us pickles upon request for our toddler. The only drawbacks is that the menu is fairly limited and the kids menu didn't really have much for little guys, like no fruit or applesauce or milk. But all in all, I love little privately owned restaurants as this. The food has much more character than the chain restaurants that embody south Florida. Seeing as this is one of the few options for dining in the downtown area, we will undoubtedly be back, as our family who lives there enjoys it as well.

Zest bar and grill is a cute place to check out if you are ever in Bartow. They have indoor and outdoor seating areas/service. I ordered a salad and added chicken for lunch. The salad was huge and I took home leftovers. The chicken was ok. This place was pretty empty in the middle of the week for lunch but after work it seems to be the place to be!